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Appendix 2.3 SWIA Performance Inspection Process
The lead inspector for this performance inspection of East Lothian Council social work services was Ian Kerr (0141 249 6839).
Along with the completion of a self-evaluation questionnaire, we began the inspection process by asking East Lothian Council to provide background information including strategic plans, policies, guidance, procedures, commissioning arrangements and information relating to performance, finance and quality assurance. We also read the reports about East Lothian Council from other regulatory bodies and inspectorates including Audit Scotland, the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education ( HMIe).
Questionnaire and file reading statistics
Questionnaires | Number issued | Number returned | Response rate |
|---|
Service users | 500 | 163 | 33% |
|---|
Carers | 750 | 230 | 31% |
|---|
Staff | 500 | 202 | 40% |
|---|
Partners and stakeholders | 50 | 19 | 38% |
|---|
File reading | Number |
|---|
Total files read | 100 |
|---|
of which | Children and families | 44 |
|---|
Community care | 56 |
|---|
Fieldwork
Together with six staff from East Lothian Council, we spent four days reading case files from a cross section of care groups.
We then spent 10 days in East Lothian looking at services for children, young people and their families, services to adults (physical disability, learning disability, mental health and substance misuse), and services to older people. We also examined strategic planning and support services.
We examined services in a number of ways:
- meeting people who use social work services and carers
- interviewing staff at all levels of the organisation, both individually and by bringing them together in focus groups
- meetings and interviews with elected members and with staff from other parts of the council
- meetings with partner organisations providing services
- observation of relevant meetings and visits to a range of services
- direct observations of social work practice - some examples taken from the case file reading exercise.
The table below sets out the number of sessions we undertook.
Inspection activity | Number undertaken |
|---|
Observed practice, meetings with people who use services and carers | 24 |
|---|
Meetings with front-line staff, first line managers and middle managers | 30 |
|---|
Meetings with senior social work managers, other officials and elected members | 19 |
|---|
Meetings with partner and provider organisations | 10 |
|---|
Observations of meetings and visits to service settings | 18 |
|---|
Total sessions | 101 |
|---|
Follow up to this inspection
East Lothian Council will write an action plan in response to this inspection report. The plan will set out how it will implement the recommendations in this report. This must be agreed with SWIA. There will be a jointly agreed programme for monitoring the implementation of the
action plan.
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